Category: Iraqi refugees

Sauerbrey wisely reminds us of terrorist threat

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As the drumbeat intensifies to open our arms to Iraqi refugees,  Asst. Sec. of State Ellen Sauerbrey speaking at a hearing before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday stressed the point that seems to be lost in the discussion: 

…… a lesson learned from the 9-11 attacks was that “any program that allows people to enter our country must guard against terrorist infiltration.”

Tell that to drummer Church World Service actively lobbying to have S. 1651 attached to the Defense Authorization bill at this very moment.   I hope they have good accountants and are making sure they don’t use any of the millions they receive from the taxpayers for refugee resettlement for lobbying in Washington.  Busy aren’t they?

Additional comment:  When I wrote this yesterday I should have mentioned that this is a twofer for Church World Services.  The bills to open the floodgates to Iraqi refugees not only bring more refugees for CWS to place and collect their federal income, but it undermines the military surge by sending the signal that these people will never be able to go home to Iraq. 

For an analysis of the bill CWS is pushing see Center for Vigilant Freedom.

For a review of all of our coverage of Iraqi refugees, go to that category on the left.

Iraqi Refugees headed to Denver and to a city near you

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This afternoon, just as General Petraeus is telling Congress that things are looking up in Iraq, I see the Denver Post is reporting on 1400 Iraqis on their way to the US as refugees.  The article is your typical story with accounts of injured translators used as the reason we must bring 12,000 Iraqis here by next year.    You can bet all 12,000 are not injured scared translators.  Echoing one of my concerns:

I don’t trust the (government) to vet them correctly,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.

And another:

We’re directly affected by what’s happening in Iraq and the rest of the world. … I’d like to see what tangible we can do to help fulfill our moral obligations,” said Colorado state Rep. Joe Rice, a Democrat who served as a civil affairs soldier in Iraq and hears regularly from Iraqis wanting out.

But Rice said he’s also deeply conflicted. Many of those fleeing Iraq “are the very people who are needed to try to stabilize things, to build a new society there,” he said.

“If all the good people leave, who’s left to build a new society?”

We need to set up a safe refugee camp in the region, perhaps in Kuwait, and take care of people until the country is stabilized and they can return home to rebuild Iraq.    While our soldiers are fighting and dying  for their country, we don’t need to bring thousands of Iraqis here to live on welfare.

Iraqi refugees—only a small number worked for US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This article in Today.com (from yesterday) is meant to be another one of those drumbeating articles about the poor Iraqi refugees we need to save by bringing them here BEFORE THE WAR IS OVER!    Articles like these are generated by consulting firms in advance of legislation that is moving through Congress.   I suspect the firms are working for various Islamic countries who wish to increase the Muslim population of the US and are working for our defeat in Iraq.

Although this piece was meant to sound the alarm, this little section caught my eye:  

The United Nations has submitted more than 9,000 Iraqis to the United States for consideration as refugees since the State Department announced a new resettlement program in February, but only about 5 percent of the applicants are former employees connected with the U.S. war effort, according to figures provided by the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration, the agencies processing the cases.

Only 5%?   By my calculation that would make 450 Iraqis who have already run away from Iraq who were once helping us.  So, who are the 8,550 others in this group?  Hopefully Christians, but I bet not.

The article does go on to say that there are 69,000 other Iraqis working as menial laborers for various contractors (including Iraqi companies) that get money from the Pentagon and so therefore according to those promoting our defeat in Iraq they will all need to be brought to America to live on American welfare.   Will our brave men and women have died to give them the US welfare trough?

If you are seeing our Iraqi refugee posts for the first time, go to the Iraqi refugees category for a complete list of our coverage.

Iraqi Refugee warning, at the frontdoor and backdoor

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Investors Business Daily yesterday questioned why at a time when the Bush Administration has admitted that Iraqi terrorists are getting into the U.S. by the backdoor–across the Mexican border– Congress is pushing to allow thousands of Iraqi’s in the front door.  

And guess who is sponsoring the Senate bill to add more refugees to our communites?   Senator Ted (Refugee Act 1980) Kennedy.  I wonder how many refugees live in Hyannisport?

…. the bill could become law. It has a companion (S. 1651) in the Senate sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. And both are being pushed hard by GOP powerbroker Grover Norquist, a close ally of Karl Rove and founder of the Islamic Institute, a Washington lobby group that has fought for looser Arab immigration.

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The bills are being sold as a compassionate attempt to rescue the growing number of Iraqi refugees, including those who have fled to Syria.

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But given the shocking news that Iraqis are trying to cross the border to carry out terrorism (and being coached to claim amnesty if they are caught), these bills raise serious security issues and should die in committee.

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Resettling genuinely at-risk Iraqis, such as Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, makes sense. But the best way to make sure other Iraqis are safe and secure is to help them fight for their own security there in Iraq.

To review the many posts on Iraqi refugees at RRW, go to the Iraqi Refugee category.

Sauerbrey off to the Middle East

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Just FYI, Asst. Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey is headed to Jordan and Turkey tomorrow to discuss the Iraqi Refugee situation, this according to a press release from her office today.

       
                                                               
                                                                       
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Ellen R.  
Sauerbrey will travel to Turkey and Jordan from August 22 – 29, 2007, on
behalf of the Secretary’s Task Force on Displaced Iraqis and Iraqi      
Refugees. 

—–                                                                  
                                                                       
In Turkey, Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey will meet with Turkish Government    
counterparts and with officials at the United Nations High Commission for     
Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and         
International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC). 

   

——-                       
                                                                       
In Jordan, the Assistant Secretary will meet with several Jordanian government
officials, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations    
assisting displaced Iraqis. She will discuss the UNHCR-UNICEF education       
initiative to help Iraqi children in Jordan go to school and stay in school,  
and also will observe the refugee processing operation.   

For our readers in Washington County and throughout Maryland, you will remember that Ms. Sauerbrey was twice a Republican candidate for Governor.